


Space Angst™

by dantesanomaly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I do what I want okay, I swear to God, I'm not pretending to know how space/time works, Lance realizes he missed his birthday, M/M, One Shot, Space Dad™ Shiro, That good shit, Voltron, keith hits him with that Bro Comfort, keith is an idiot, klance, literally just take this i don't want to edit it, n then they highkey make out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 19:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7586611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dantesanomaly/pseuds/dantesanomaly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance realizes he missed his birthday and is sad about it so he and Keith make out I promise it's way more romantic than this summary</p>
            </blockquote>





	Space Angst™

**Author's Note:**

> this is serious and romantic okay

Human beings were not built for space.

In fact, there was little in this galaxy that was; ships were designed to keep at bay the myriad threats of life among the stars, but no matter how far anyone had come technologically, space would never be a home. Most days it was more of a mercurial acquaintance, and it was up to the team to stay in its good graces. The castle may have looked imposing on the ground, but out in the void it slipped between meteor fields and volatile stars, a nervous fish in the great hole of the cosmos.

Keith thought about this in the shower a lot. Most of the time he was comfortable trusting in the safety the castle (it was just so  _ huge _ . Big things couldn’t be that vulnerable. Except for Hunk, of course) but there was something about getting clean after a long day that made him feel so big and so small at the same time. He’d stand there under the spray, water flowing off his legs in loose ropes, and he’d look at the grime of some other ship or some other planet circling the drain and think,  _ where the hell am I? _

They’d been out cutting supply lines and sabotaging smaller bases for weeks now, and as the days began to slide into each other, Keith took more and more time in the shower every day, pressing his hands into the tile and trying to remember how his little house in the desert had smelled, the sound of wood creaking, the heat of Earth’s sun. Now he pressed his forehead against the wall and let water run into his mouth and over his shoulders, trying to place himself back into his body, and his body back into the present. He jerked away from the cool metal at the sound of a voice.

“Keith! Buddy! Have you s- wow, how long have you been in here?”

Of course it was Lance. Keith shut off the water and snatched a towel from the side of the stall.

“Why do you care about my showering habits, Lance.” His voice echoed around the room.

“Hey, man, relax.” He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I just wanted to know if you’d seen Allura. She hasn’t congratulated me yet on that sick ass move I pulled back at the base today.”

“Lance, that was Pidge’s idea. You barely pulled it off.”

“Are you kidding me? I hit ‘em with the ol’ one-two and they were  _ out _ .” Lance chopped at the air with the precision of a mid-morning drunk. “That was an ESPN top ten play if I’ve ever seen one. Anyway, you’re just jealous that Allura wants me.” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Look, I haven’t seen her. Will you let me get dressed or are you gonna stay here all day?” Keith fought to keep his voice as dismissive as usual. In truth, he was glad to see someone else; he’d been alone too long. It occurred to him not for the first time that he might just be glad to see  _ Lance _ , which was a thought that he dismissed, immediately and on principle.

Lance seemed just then to notice that the only thing covering his teammate was a none-too-large towel. Keith wondered absentmindedly at the sudden flush in Lance’s cheeks.

“Um- right. Right. Uh. Is that-”

“What.”

“I think I heard my name okay bye!” Lance bolted from the room faster than he’d ever run in a training exercise, leaving Keith behind to pull at his towel in confusion.

…

Keith arrived in the control room- mostly dry- to a familiar scene.

“Well, it’ll take us a few days to get to the next viable base even if we’re making good time-” Allura was saying to Shiro.

“Bet I can think of plenty of ways for you to spend that time, if you know what I  _ mean _ ,” interjected Lance from his perch on the couch.

“ _ Lance. _ ”

“Fine, alright,  _ Dad _ .”

Shiro turned back to Allura, gesturing at a spot between two stars on the holographic map. Pidge, Hunk and Coran were gathered around the latest addition to Pidge’s robot collection, messing with a tangle of dangerous-looking wires.

“Wait,” called Hunk from across the room. “What day even is it?”

“Why, it’s the third cycle of-” began Coran knowledgeably.

“No, I mean, what  _ Earth _ day is it? ‘Cause it seems like it could be February by now, but you know, it could also be April, in which case we’re going to miss final exams, probably, and I mean do you think they’ll let us reschedule? We  _ are _ saving the universe, which seems pretty important, but you know how they can be with scheduling-”

“Hunk, I don’t really think finals matter anymore,” said Pidge from underneath the robot.

“Right, but the administration can be pretty-”

“It looks like it’s- March second, I think? Maybe the third.” said Shiro, still facing the map. “And Pidge is right. There’ll be no exams anyway if Earth gets conquered.”

“ _ What _ ?” said Lance, bolting up from the couch. “Let me see that.”

Keith moved towards the front of the room. “Why are you so surprised, Lance? Did you really think the Galra Empire was gonna care about our-”

“No, I mean the  _ date! _ It can’t be March already!”

Shiro looked at where Lance had shoved himself in between him and Allura, eyebrows furrowed. “We’ve been out here for a while, Lance. And time works differently in space, anyway.”

“What, did you have a date planned?” came Pidge’s muffled voice.

“No! Well, yes, obviously, but that’s not-I mean, I had several. The ladies are counting on me.”

“I think the ladies are gonna like living on a free Earth more than they’d like dating you on a conquered one, Lance.”

“You stay out of this, Mullet!”

“Enough, you two.” said Shiro, arms crossed over his chest. “Go eat. It’s been a long day. Pidge, Hunk, you too.”

“But  _ Dad! _ ” whined Lance.

“I’m not done yet!” Pidge complained. Hunk, on the other hand, looked delighted.

“ _ Dinner _ . All of you.”

Four-fifths of team Voltron (three-fifths reluctantly) headed towards the cafeteria, grumbling.

“Kids,” muttered Shiro.

…

An hour later Keith was walking towards the rooms, tugging a clump of space goo out of his hair. Hunk had assured him that if he couldn’t get it out it would probably make for a pretty good leave-in conditioner anyway, so he shouldn't worry about it too much. Keith did not find this as comforting as Hunk had probably intended.

Under his left arm he carried Lance’s ever-present brown jacket, which he’d absentmindedly left next to his chair when he’d taken off early. He’d been distracted the whole meal and had left without making fun of Keith’s hair more than once, which was mildly concerning in its own right.

The ship hummed and clicked quietly as Keith’s boots echoed against the floor, a background noise for which he was grateful; without it, he was sure the silence of space might drive him insane.

Alone in the hallway, Keith allowed himself to dig his fingers into the rough fabric of the jacket, and to feel the answering thrill in his chest as he pulled it closer to him. He let out an inaudible breath. He thought about how stupid he was being, thought about all the poorly conceived insults Lance had thrown his way.

He thought about how the tone of those insults had lately become something close to affectionate.

He thought about how often Lance talked about all his  _ ladies _ and about his commitment to embarrassing himself around Allura.

He thought about how Lance looked you in the eyes when he laughed at something you said.

And he thought about the space goo in his hair, because Hunk was totally wrong about it being fine. If there was any still left he was going to break something. He thought he looked  _ very _ cool with his mullet, thank you very much, and he didn’t appreciate it being messed with.

Keith rounded a corner and arrived at Lance’s door. He knocked loudly, and considerably more than he had to; it just wasn’t practical to pass up an opportunity, no matter how small, to annoy Lance.

The door whooshed open almost immediately, revealing a surprisingly serious looking Lance. They stood there a moment, Keith’s hand still halfway raised from knocking. Lance’s eyes seemed to wander over Keith until he noticed his jacket and snatched it back.

“I knew it was only a matter of time before you tried to steal my jacket. That glorified crop top you always wear is the  _ worst. _ ”

“It isn’t a  _ crop top _ , Lance. It’s cool.”

“Maybe it was in the  _ eighties _ , asswad.”

“You’re welcome for bringing your jacket. Asswad.”

“You can’t just copy my insults,  _ Keith. _ ”

“Says who?”

“Says  _ me _ . I don’t make the rules.”

“You literally just said-”

“Whatever!”

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. This had been a mistake.

“But. Thanks.”

He looked up to see Lance staring studiously at the wall over Keith’s left shoulder. Neither boy moved for a long minute.

“Um. Are you okay?”

“ _ Yes. _ ” Lance sounded offended. “Well. Yeah. I just-” he paused. “I missed my birthday, is all.” He stared studiously at his shoes, shifting his jacket from one hand to the other.

“Oh. That...sucks.”

Lance glanced up sharply, looking offended for the second time in thirty seconds. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” He turned and began to walk back to his bed.

“No, Lance, that’s not-” Keith was such a fuckup. “That’s not what I meant.” He followed Lance back into his room on impulse. Keith startled as the door slid shut behind him. “Um, no that- really does suck. It’s-lonely out here.” Keith felt heat rush to his cheeks.  _ It’s lonely out here? _ When was he going to learn real social skills? Not in the void of space, that was for sure.

“I just- no one knows how long we’re going to be out here.” Lance sat down on his bed with a sigh; Keith followed awkwardly. “What if we never get to go back?” This last part was quieter than Keith had ever heard Lance talk. Keith’s mouth opened; he took a breath; it closed wordlessly. He just sat there, staring at the freckles on Lance’s nose and the warm brown of his eyes and hoping that Lance somehow knew that he understood. Lance looked away, sighed, put down his jacket. Keith panicked a little. He should have said something. This whole interaction was a disaster.

Acting on the same impulse that had pulled him towards Lance’s room in the first place, Keith lifted his hand- paused, considered a few of the many ways this could go wrong- and placed it gently on Lance’s wrist.

Lance went completely still. Keith contemplated jumping out of the airlock to spare the universe his idiocy.

Carefully, like he was afraid of startling a wild animal, Lance turned toward Keith and regarded him quietly. Keith measured the time in breaths, his heart racing. The look Lance was giving him convinced Keith that whatever Lance had seen in his face must have answered his question-which only made Keith more nervous, he was such an  _ idiot _ , this had been a  _ mistake _ -

“Lance-?” His voice came out higher than he had intended.  _ Idiot, idiot, idiot _ .

Lance smiled, threaded his fingers gently through the hair at the base of Keith’s skull, and kissed him.

His lips barely brushed Keith’s, a question, and Keith responded  _ yes, yes, yes,  _ slotting their lips together, hands against Lance’s chest, the thrill in his stomach sounding again and again. Lance smiled against Keith’s mouth.

“I thought you hated me,” Keith murmured against his skin.

“That’s because you’re an idiot.” Lance laughed as Keith punched him none too softly in the chest. “Is this my birthday present?”

“Shut  _ up,  _ Lance.”

Lance laughed brightly, happily, and Keith laughed, too. He felt the loneliness in his chest soothed, just a little.

**Author's Note:**

> Update: thank you guys so much for reading! Please leave comments and tell me what you thought they feed my soul<3


End file.
